Beginner Gardening: Can I cover my direct sow seeds?, 2 by Zen_Man

Zen_Man wrote:
Hello cautiousOpt,

\" Is it okay for me to cover my seeds outdoors with clear plastic until they sprout??? \"

Clear plastic does such a good job of trapping heat from sunlight that you would be running a risk of \"cooking\" your seeds in the ground. I am not familiar with conditions in Hamilton, Canada and the clear plastic might be \"safe\" there, but many people use clear plastic to trap solar heat to sterilize the soil and kill weed seeds.

\" Also, how do I then stop the birds eating the sprouts? \"

Have you had birds eat your young seedlings? The only trouble I have had with birds eating my zinnias seeds has been in the zinnia heads while the zinnias are trying to set some seeds. I use reflective pinwheels to scare and repel birds from my zinnia patch. The sun reflects off of the reflective pinwheels to give a strobe like effect. I have on occasions hung screen wire over individual zinnia plants to keep the birds off of them.

ZM